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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28435173">Omaha</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebraskaWildfire/pseuds/NebraskaWildfire'>NebraskaWildfire</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Christmas Stories [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Alias Smith and Jones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:29:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,158</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28435173</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebraskaWildfire/pseuds/NebraskaWildfire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The boys are separated at Christmas.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Christmas Stories [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669669</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Omaha</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Heyes stared at the reflection of the candle in his window as he looked out at the falling snow.  He sighed.  It was Christmas Eve and he was alone, studying for the exams he would have in January.</p><p>He thought that life would change once they received their amnesty and it had.  In some ways it was easier, not having to worry about ending up in prison, or worse, dead, but in some ways it was much more difficult.</p><p>The amnesty allowed him to enroll in medical school here in Omaha.  Sister Madeleva had pulled out her own silver tongue to get the school to accept H. Joshua Heyes as a student.  She also talked them into giving him a scholarship for untraditional students to cover his tuition.  His living expenses were coming from a bank account at the First National Bank in Valparaiso, which contained funds that Sister put there once she realized the money they had been receiving was coming from the bank and train robberies of Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry.</p><p>He was thriving in the college courses, but was desperately missing his cousin, who was working on a ranch in western Nebraska.  The Kid tried to stay in Omaha when Heyes first enrolled, but there was not enough to keep him busy, interested, and out of trouble.  </p><p>“Heyes, if I stay here another month, I’ll have to go back to robbing banks.”</p><p>“What?” Heyes turned towards his cousin, surprised, but not really.  “Well, the meat packing plant job, was just...”</p><p>“Bad, Heyes.  It was horrible.”</p><p>Heyes nodded, “But what about that job bartending down in the Sporting District for Tom Dennison?”</p><p>“I ain’t no bartender, Heyes.”  The Kid shook his head.  “Takes too much talking.  Too many folks wanting to talk to me.”</p><p>“Well, then what about the job you have now?  Dealing poker?”</p><p>“Dennison wants me to cheat.”</p><p>“Oh.”  Heyes paused.  “Well, we can’t have that.”</p><p>“No, we can’t.”  The Kid looked up and met his cousin’s eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Another former student from Valparaiso, Bob Wilson, had settled out by Chadron, and Sister Pat contacted him to see if he had a job.  After all the complaints they made about ranch work over the years, the Kid was surprisingly happy there.  It might have had something to do with Bob’s sister, Martha, but Heyes was not certain.  The Kid never really said she was pretty, and Heyes did not think the Kid would fall for someone who was not pretty.  He also got the impression that she was not young.</p><p>Heyes pulled out the letter he recently received from the Kid.  It shocked him a bit that the Kid wrote it, but then he decided, even with all the ranch work, there might be a bit of free time on a ranch in the midst of the Sand Hills of western Nebraska, especially in winter.</p><p>“Heyes,<br/>
How you doing in Omaha?  Keeping up with your studying?  Staying away from Dennison’s place?<br/>
Staying warm?  I now remember why we never went anywhere in the winters at Devils Hole.  The wind out here bites clear into a man’s soul.  Bob and Martha are telling me that this is a mild winter, but I don’t remember ever being this cold at the Hole.  Guess it’s a good thing we gave up the outlawing.  You, being older than me, wouldn’t be able to handle these winters any more.”</p><p>A dry laugh came out of Heyes.  He shivered a bit, shook the coffee pot to see if any was left.  He grimaced and glanced at the coffee tin.  It had to last until the new year.  He looked at his meager supply of wood and sighed.  If he was meeting some of his classmates for Midnight Mass, it was not worth brewing another pot or putting in another piece of wood.  He would bank the fire before he left and save that extra piece for when he came back.</p><p>It wasn’t that he had become more religious after the amnesty.  He still felt that for the most part, God had more important things to worry about than the fate of two former outlaws, but Sister Madeleva had convinced him that maybe he should give God a chance, since he’d given them a new one.  He himself knew he needed to at least present a proper, respectful persona, with his instructors and classmates, even if he still didn’t feel so respectful yet, so that they didn’t think so long on what the H might stand for in H, Joshua Heyes.</p><p>Besides, with the Kid out west in the Sandhills, he was honestly lonely this holiday.  He had decided that even sitting in the drafty St. John’s church, with classmates surrounding him, would be much preferable to sitting in his drafty room, eking out his meager supply of firewood.   Thoughtfully, he returned to the Kid’s letter.</p><p>“The sisters sent me a Christmas package.  They sent me some practical things like a scarf and new long johns, but also included some of Sister Mary Francis’ delicious fudge and cakes.  I tried to share them with the Wilsons, but they told me to save my treasures.  Sides Martha’s baked up more Christmas treats than I’ve seen, since we were boys in Kansas.  She says they are for the church dinner before Christmas, but she keeps giving me some here and there to try.  I ain’t found any yet that ain’t  good.”</p><p>Heyes’ smile had both wistfulness, as well as some brittleness in it, as he remembered Kansas in full.  He shook himself, though, rubbed his arms and hands, and continued with the letter.</p><p>“Martha, well, she’s a good woman.  As hard working as her brother and the best cook around.  She’ll make some man a fine wife.”</p><p>Heyes shook his head, wondering again.</p><p>“Thanks very much for the new pair of fur lined gloves you sent.  I’d think an old man like you might need them more than me, but they are very handy out in the cold wind.”</p><p>Heyes had shorted his wood supply so that he could send the gloves to the Kid.</p><p>“It would be great to see you at Christmas, but with the weather, it might be best for both of us to stay warm.</p><p>Kid.”</p><p>Heyes would never admit that his vision might be a bit blurry as he looked again out the frost covered window.  He heard a train whistle in the distance.  It might have been a freight going over the Missouri, on this cold, clear night.</p><p>He took a deep breath and got up to get ready to meet his classmates.  Matthew Hewitt and his sister Isabelle were both fellow medical students.  They lived with their Aunt Ida north of the school.  Their parents were ranchers out towards Broken Bow.  With three other brothers and two other sisters, their parents were happy for them to have an interest in a profession that did not require them to acquire more land.</p><p>Isabelle was taking advantage of the school’s desire to have enough students to continue to expand and flourish, just as Heyes was.  A body in a seat added to the numbers they could publish.  Heyes knew more than one of his professors expected him to eventually drop out and fail.  His face was set and grim as he put on his suit jacket and then his heavy, old gray coat.  The dean of the college knew exactly who H. Joshua Heyes was, but had promised Sister Madeleva that he would not disseminate that information, if at all possible.  Some of his professors had guessed that he had come from a rougher background than some of his classmates.  Heyes doubted if any really knew exactly how rough.  He also doubted that they realized they had come up against the stubborn nature of one Hannibal Heyes.</p><p>Isabelle had confided to him that she felt something similar.</p><p>“I know all the professors expect me to withdraw once we get to discussion of some of the topics considered unseemly for women to know.”  Her chin had raised in a stubborn manner that made Heyes smile.  She might have made a good outlaw in a different life.  “I just hope they don’t take that decision out of my hands and dismiss me when we get to a topic that they feel I shouldn’t hear.”</p><p>So far both Isabelle and Heyes had survived.  He sighed as he put on his scarf, gloves, and bowler hat.  He hoped the upcoming tests would not prove his undoing.</p><p>As he hurried down the steps, and approached the front door, he saw his landlady, Mrs. Worth, look out.  Unlike the typical plump, gray haired college dormitory matron, she looked like she might have lived, if not as rough of a life as Heyes had, it might have been something on parallel lines.  Her head of red curls had probably faded from her youth, but she had somehow kept her figure.  Heyes figured it was by worrying and feeding all the boys who roomed with her.  He figured she had, in one way or another, taken care of boys her entire life.  He doubted if she had ever actually been married, but continued to call her Mrs. Worth, as did all her boys.</p><p>“You’ll catch your death, son, in this cold.”</p><p>“I’m just going over to St. John’s to meet up with classmates.” He gave her a brilliant smile.  “Can’t freeze that quickly.”</p><p>Mrs. Worth humphed, but then continued.  “Come down in the morning and I’ll get you a good Christmas breakfast at the very least.  Can’t have you drying up and blowing away, with all that studying.”</p><p>“Thank you, Mrs. Worth!” He called as he hurried out the door and down the street.</p><p>It was cold, but crisp, dark, but the night sparkled with possibility.  Heyes felt his mood improve, as he warmed with the brisk walk to the church.</p><p>As he approached the building, the windows glowed with the candlelight within.  His smile was genuine as he went to look for his friends.</p><p>Mass was just starting, when he felt another person squeeze into the pew where they were sitting.  Christmas services were always packed, so he just smiled wryly, and scooted over as far as he could.  He turned slightly to nod at the late arrival, and his dark eyes met the sky blue eyes of his cousin.</p><p>“Kid?” He whispered.</p><p>The Kid’s eyes just sparkled, as he nodded, and joined the congregation as they raised their voices in song, giving back to their creator what he had given to them.</p><p>As they streamed out after Mass was over,  Heyes just asked his cousin, “How?”</p><p>“On the train, Joshua,” the Kid answered, looking past Heyes to the young man and woman who had shared the pew with them.</p><p>“Oh, let me introduce everyone,” Heyes turned to his classmates, “Belle, Matt, this is my cousin, Thaddeus.”  He turned back to the Kid, and his smile widened further.  “Thaddeus, this here is Matthew and Isabelle Hewitt, some of the others who are voluntarily suffering the same as I am, studying medicine.”</p><p>Heyes paused.  “When did you get in?”</p><p>“Just tonight.  I stopped by your place, and your landlady told me you’d be here.”</p><p>“We were going to invite Joshua back to Aunt Ida’s for some hot cocoa and cakes,” Isabelle took in the well worn floppy brown hat and sheepskin coat, but saw the pure joy in his blue eyes when he looked at his cousin.  “Please come join us.”</p><p>The Kid glanced over at Heyes who answered with just a look.  “I’d be right happy to join you and your brother, ma’am.  Can’t let Joshua eat all the cake by himself.”  His smile was genuinely warm.</p><p>“It’s just Isabelle and Matthew,” she answered.  “But we will all freeze if we don’t get going.”  She took her brother’s arm and started down the street to lead the way, leaving the partners to bring up the rear.</p><p>“Why didn’t you let me know?” Heyes asked, pleased, but as always out of sorts if it was not his plan.</p><p>“Wouldn’a been a surprise then, would it’ve been, Heyes?” the Kid answered quietly as they trailed behind the Hewitts. </p><p>“The tracks were clear?” </p><p>“Obviously, Heyes.”</p><p>Heyes scowled at his cousin, until they both laughed.  “I guess you’re right.”</p><p>“We’d gone to town for some supplies.  The train had just pulled into the station.  We went to see if a couple of things we had ordered had made it, and the engineer told us the tracks were so clear they’d made excellent time from Omaha.  It was then that I decided to come.  Figured I’d better bring your present myself or it would be late.”</p><p>“Glad you did, Kid.”  Heyes met his cousin’s eyes and slapped him on the back.  “Best Christmas present I could have.”</p><p>The two continued on in silence in the glory of the clear night.</p>
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